In February 2007, Hampton left Norfolk, Virginia for a
seven month Western Pacific (WESTPAC) deployment. She traveled
through the Panama Canal and arrived in Yokosuka, Japan. She
completed two missions of national importance, and participated in
two major, multinational naval exercises. She made port visits in
Apra Harbor, Guam, White Beach, Okinawa,
and Brisbane, Australia, as well as a brief
stop in Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, before
arriving in San Diego, CA. She earned the Navy Expeditionary Medal
during this time[2].

In an isolated incident from her safe operational record, in
October 2007, six naval personnel were disciplined for fraudulently
documenting the chemistry records of the Hampton's nuclear
propulsion plant[3][4].
Shortly thereafter, the ship's commanding officer Commander Michael
B. Portland was also relieved of his command because of a loss of
confidence in his leadership, but he has not been charged with any
offense[1][5]. In
March 2008, the US Navy revealed that a total of 11 officers and
enlisted men had been disciplined in connection with the fraudulent
documentation and for cheating on qualification tests. In addition
to the Captain, the submarine's engineer officer, the engineering
department master chief petty officer, and the entire reactor
laboratory division but one man were dismissed from Naval nuclear
plant duty and submarine service. No damage was discovered in the
reactor core and the submarine has returned
to operational status[6].

USS Hampton completed a Western Pacific deployment from October
17, 2008 to April 17, 2009. She made port visits to Singapore,
Yokosuka, Japan, Saipan, and Apra Harbor, Guam, before returning to
home port in San Diego. She participated in the first submarine
exercise between the United States and the Singapore Navy.